Warriors: Secrets of the Goose
by BookWriter2014
Summary: An adventurous but weak kit, a strong willed but caring apprentice. And eventually a talented medicine cat that has the respect of his clan. Unfortunately for Goosefeather, his path will be filled with more bloodshed than any medicine cat before him. With the darkest of cats closing in, will Goosefeather be strong enough to resist the temptation of power and revenge?
1. Prologue

Prologue

In a large, beautiful grassy clearing, many cats with stars shining in their fur gathered. Each one looked apprehensive, and nervous. Some cats had bristling fur, while others remained calm.

A large black tom stepped forward, out of the crowd, "You all know why were gathered here," he began. "There will be a cat with a natural warrior's instinct, and a darker future than any cat before him, even darker than Mapleshade's." At his words, several cats shifted nervously. Mapleshade had been a killer.

"What do we do Blacktail?" a ginger she cat asked, "We can't let the poor cat suffer his fate without giving him a sign. The least he deserves is a little guidance."

Blacktail nodded unhappily, "I know Gingerheart, that is why one of us will try and guide him before a Dark Forest cat does."

"What if he's mentored by both? Like Lakeclaw was?" another cat called out from the crowd. Lakeclaw had been guided by both Starclan and the Dark forest, yet in the end he had chosen the dark forest over his ancesters.

"We can only hope that this cat will be strong enough to resist the darkness that will grow," Blacktail meowed, "That is why I want none of us to interfere with this cat's fate. We can guide him, but driving him towards something that will never be will only help the dark forest dig their claws deeper into him".

"I'll guide him," a dark brown stripped tabby tom cat meowed coming out of the crowd of cats. Blacktail looked up at him in surprise. This tom had been around when Mapleshade had lived in Thunderclan.

"Are you sure Beetail?" he asked softly, though he already knew the answer.

"Yes, I will guide this cat as best as I can," Beetail promised.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Come on Goosekit!" Snowkit, Goosekit's sister yowled as she, their brother Birchkit and their playmates, Leopardkit, Lionkit and Tigerkit tossed around a mouse. They were playing around the outside of the nursery. Nearby, Goosekit's mother Lilystream watched them while she talked with Jaz Queen.

"Coming," Goosekit meowed, stumbling as fast as his little legs could carry him towards the other kits. He was the smallest in his litter, and everyone had thought when he was born that he would die. But he hadn't. And now he was more determined than the other kits to be the best Warrior he could be.

Only if he could keep up with the five moons, soon to be six moon kits. While he and his littermates were still only three moons old, Jaz Queen's litter would soon become apprentices. And with their age, came bigger size and more endurance. Endurance he didn't have.

"Come on Goosekit," Lionkit meowed, "You're too slow". Lionkit was a beautiful young yellow and white she cat, while her brother Leopardkit was pure black with white splotches, and her sister Tigerkit was pale brown with white stripes.

"Sorry Lionkit," Goosekit mewed softly, shamefully. He just wanted them to like him, but only Leopardkit seemed to besides his own littermates.

"Hey, it's not his fault," Birchkit snapped, swiping a paw at Lionkit's ear. She retaliated playfully, and soon the two were wrestling, though it seemed like Birchkit was trying hard to beat the older kit.

While the others were distracted by Lionkit and Birchkit, Goosekit decided to surprise attack his sister. Snowkit was watching them with excitement shining in her eyes. Perfectly unaware of what Goosekit was planning.

Goosekit wriggled his hind-courters and then pounced on his sister. Snowkit squealed with alarm and then swatted at his face playfully. Eyes shining with delight. Goosekit bit down on her ear gently and shook, while she batted at his belly.

Within minutes of playfighting, Goosekit felt himself tiring. Snowkit batted at his belly again with her hindpaws and threw him off. Goosekit landed on the ground with a soft thud, his ears ringing from the blow.

"Snowkit! Be gentle with your brother, he's smaller than you!" Lilystream meowed sternly and quickly went over to where Goosekit lay on the ground panting heavily. His paw hurt from where he'd landed wrong on it before tumbling to the ground.

"I'm Fine Lilystream, really," Goosekit got to his paws shakily. He twisted himself around to look his mother in the eyes. She still looked worried.

"Why don't you rest for a couple of moments anyway Goosekit," she meowed, leaning down to lick him between the ears. Goosekit jerked away, backing away towards his littermates.

"I'm fine, I promise," Goosekit mewed and then turned around to tackle his brother. Birchkit nipped his shoulder then whispered in his ear:

"I think she's still worried". Goosekit twisted around to see Jaz Queen pull his mother away from them to talk to her.

Goosekit twisted his head back around and batted at Birchkit's ear. Snowkit tackled him from behind, nipping his tail, while Birchkit batted at his shoulder. Goosekit reared up onto his hindlegs, tucking his tail around his legs, out of his sister's reach. Birchkit took advantage of Goosekit's position and batted at his belly. Goosekit from himself down onto his brother then, while his brother was squashed beneath him, he turned and batted his sister's face with his hind paws. This move successfully kept his sister from attacking him long enough for him to regain his paws and spin around to deliver a few playful nips and blows to her before twisting around to attack his brother. Unfortunately this excessive manuerving quickly tired him out, allowing his sister to soon flip him onto his back.

"I think we might have a warrior in the making here," Sunstreak commented. Snowkit jumped off Goosekit in a hurry. Sunstreak was his sister's idol. With no one blocking his way, Goosekit sat up and began to lick his ruffled fur.

"Where'd you learn that move Goosekit?" Sunstreak asked him, causing the young tom to look up in surprise. Snowkit seemed slightly crestfallen, though the young warrior didn't seem to notice.

"I made it up," Goosekit meowed, feeling proud that he had managed to gain the interest of a well respected warrior.

"Prehaps you could show me how you did that move?" Sunstreak meowed sitting down to watch.

"No, my kit needs to rest," Lilystream ruined his moment of glory as she came over, looking worried. Behind her, Jaz Queen looked exasperated. Apperently the older queen hadn't convinced his mother that he wasn't helpless.

"Lilystream I'm fine really," Goosekit meowed, though he was indeed tired. He wanted to impress the others.

"You're breathing pretty hard, you should rest," Tigerkit sneered as she came back over. She and her littermates had been badgering the apprentices as they came in from hunting.

"You're just jealous that I made up a cool fighting move," Goosekit sniffed. His mother came over and started licking his ruffled fur.

"Come on Goose, you can use it on me," Birchkit said, nudging the smaller tom. Goosekit looked up to see if Sunstreak was still watching them, and to his relief she was.

Goosekit nodded, "Ok". While his sister once again moved behind him, Birchkit attacked him from the front. Goosekit reared, tucking his tail around his legs as he had done before, and then threw himself down onto his brother, twisting himself around so that he could bat at his sister with his hind paws.

Sunstreak and Jaz Queen looked impressed, while Lilystream stared at him disapprovingly.

"That was a very clever move Goosekit," Sunstreak meowed, "I'll have to show the others this. It would be very useful in battle". Leaning down, she licked the top of his head before heading over to where Turtlepelt was organizing the patrols.

"That was cool Goosekit, great job," Leopardkit said, coming over with Lionkit on his tail. While Lionkit and Tigerkit looked jealous, Leopardkit looked impressed. Goosekit had never fekt happier in his life. He'd managed to impress two warriors, his siblings and the older kits.

Goosekit looked back at his mother, hoping for her approval as well, but she just stared at him. The endless warmth that had wrapped around him quickly vanished.

Lilystream sighed, "Goosekit don't do such dangerous things, I know very well that you are tired. Don't strain yourself". She leaned down and to his embaressment, picked him up by the scruff and carried him into the nursery. Behind them he could hear Lionkit and Tigerkit laughing.

Goosekit burned with shame; why couldn't Lilystream just leave him alone for a moment and let him have his glory while it lasted.

When she set him down in her nest and curled up around him, Goosekit wiggled out of the nest.

"Goosekit," she meowed sternly.

"I'm just as strong as Birchkit and Snowkit," he complained, "Why won't you let me play longer?" Behind him, Jaz Queen came in.

"He's right you know Lilystream." She meowed, "He'll never grow strong enough to be an apprentice if he's cooped up in the nursery all the time."

I'm strong enough to be an apprentice! Goosekit thought furiously, I'm just not big enough or old enough yet! That's all.

As the two she cats began to argue about whether or not he'd ever be strong enough, he felt a burning rage grow in his belly.

They were supposed to be encouraging him that he was strong enough, and yet here they were, discussing how weak he was and if he'd ever be an apprentice.

I'll prove them wrong, he thought angrily, turning to leave the den. I'll show them just how strong I am.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Goosekit snuck out of the nursery, ears pricked, and breath coming quickly in excitement. He watched the other kits playing for a moment, making sure they were distracted before turning his attention to the rest of the clan.

Seedstar was sharing tongues with his mate Raventail; Flameheart was teaching something to her apprentice, Hailpaw. While the other apprentices wrestled around by their den.

Most of the warriors were preoccupied watching Sunstreak demonstrate Goosekit's fighting move that he'd shown her earlier. No one had noticed he'd left the nursery; good. That made his task easier.

Goosekit swallowed hard and crept along the edge of camp, keeping an eye out in case someone did come his way.

Right before he reached the entrance tunnel, Pinepaw walked through it, coming into the camp. Goosekit's heart nearly stopped from fright. He flattened himself against the ground, hoping that the large squirrel the apprentice was carrying would keep the young tom from seeing him.

Pinepaw sniffed the air, his ears turning in sudden surprise. The tom turned his head in Goosekit's direction, narrowing his green eyes in suspicion. Then to Goosekit's horror, Pinepaw took a step in his direction.

"Pinepaw, come here you have to see this move one of the kits made up earlier today," Larkpaw called from where she was sitting beside her mentor. Pinepaw reluctantly left the entrance tunnel to head over to the freshkill pile to drop off his catch before joining his denmate by Sunstreak.

Goosekit's resolve thickened, One of the kits? They couldn't even remember which one had taught them that move? Goosekit's fur bristled in anger. It wasn't fair! The thing that he did right and now they weren't even giving him the credit he deserved.

Goosekit shook himself and took a deep breath. His heart was racing. He turned to look at the camp one last time then turned and quickly hurried into the entrance tunnel.

Several big rocks blocked him from the rest of the forest, but he had gotten this far. He wasn't going to let the rocks stop him.

He jumped onto the first one, barely able to claw his way to the top of it. Panting, he jumped onto the second one, once again clawing his way to the top of it. By the time he'd finally reached the top of the third rock, his muscles were burning in agony. He sat down to rest, silently hoping that none of the warriors would decide to head out right now.

"Goosekit!" his mother Lilystream called from the nursery. Alarm shot through him. If Lilystream found him, she'd never let him leave the nursery again! Gathering his remaining strength, Goosekit stood up and clawed his way up the fourth rock.

"Goosekit!" Lilystream called out again. Goosekit made a leap for the fifth and final rock, but as his paws touched the smooth stone, he slipped and fell backwards.

"Oof," he mumbled, his back now blazing in pain as well as his legs. Now he wanted to go back down to the nursery and let his mother tend to his sore muscles. It would be nice to let himself relax and wait another day to sneak out of camp. But if he went back now, he'd probably never get another chance.

Goosekit forced himself to his paws and leapt again. This time, he managed to find a claw hold, and slowly, agonsingly pulled himself up onto the top of the rock. He had never been so exhausted in his life before, but he felt a small flame of pride bloom in his chest. He knew about Jaz Queen's kits expedition out of camp. Though they had only made it a few tail lengths past the entrance, he could make it so much farther.

He took his first step ever out into the forest, and face planted into a pile of leaves. Grunting, he pulled himself up and sat down, panting. Maybe he was a little more tired than exhausted.

Goosekit looked up, and admired the forest about him. A soft warm breeze ruffled his fur, as well as the tree leaves above him. Everything seemed so peaceful. Goosekit breathed in deeply, inhaling the scents the forest had to offer.

"Goosekit!" This time it was Ivyblaze calling for him. He turned his head to watch the entrance to see if they had figured out where he had actually gone.

"I thought I scented him near the entrance," he heard Pinepaw say faintly from inside the camp. Tail tip twitching irritable, Goosekit sighed. Of course one of the apprentices would ruin his expedition before he got the chance to really explore.

That was ok though, he was tired anyway and it was starting to get a little dark. Goosekit had heard the stories about owls taking adventurous kits who had been out exploring at night. He didn't want to end up like that so he tilted his head back and shouted as loudly as he could, "I'm here!"

Lilystream raced out of the camp entrance, Toadheart, Goosekit's father just behind her, along with several other warriors, including Seedstar himself. None of the warriors looked happy about finding him outside of camp. That was ok though, Goosekit didn't care if they were mad at him or not, he'd proven he was just as strong as the other kits.

"Goosekit you shouldn't be out here, what if a fox or badger had come by and snatched you up?" Lilystream cuffed him over the ears, making his ears ring. Without another word, Lilystream picked him up roughly by his scruff and stalked back down into camp, where the other kits were waiting.

To his delight, Lilystream dropped him outside of the nursery and began to lick his pelt, soothing his sore muscles. "Don't ever go out of camp until you're an apprentice," she meowed sternly.

"Yes Lilystream," Goosekit meowed. Though when Snowkit and Birchkit ran over he puffed out his chest in pride.

"How far did you get?" Snowkit demanded, flexing her tiny claws in excitement.

"Just past the entrance tunnel," Goosekit meowed, then added, his eyes shining, "You should have seen it! The forest is amazing. Everything was so big and pretty,"

"Pretty?" Tigerkit snorted as she padded over with her siblings following her.

"Good job on getting past the entrance, that's the hardest part," Leopardkit said, he and his littermates had also once snuck out of the camp.

"Thanks Leopardkit," Goosekit meowed happily then added, "I can't wait to be an apprentice!"


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

For the next two moons, Goosekit found every possible opprotunity to sneak out of camp. Every time, he had gotten a little stronger, and now had almost no trouble getting around.

The second time he'd seen a way out, he'd brought along Birchkit and Snowkit. That time they had only made it half way up the entrance tunnel because Hailpaw found them when she was coming back from collecting moss.

The second and third time out hadn't been much better, but on their fourth expedition they had managed to get themselves lost in the forest until Turtlepelt and Jayheart had found them.

Now, they were ready to head out for their fifth expedition, with Goosekit leading it as he had the last few times. He liked his littermates listening to him, it made him feel powerful. Maybe one day he would even be leader, then he would lead the entire clan! Goosestar, he liked the sound of that.

Currently they were crouching down outside of the nursery with Petaltail's kits, Stonekit and Silverkit, who had been born soon after Jaz Queen's litter had become apprentices.

"Are we really going out into the forest Goosekit?" Silverkit asked, her pretty green eyes staring up at him.

"Yes, but you have to be quiet," he told the younger kit. She nodded and so did her brother, whose eyes were wide open with excitement. This would be the first time the younger kits would have ever been outside of camp.

"Ok Goosekit, all the apprentices are in camp," Birchkit told him. Goosekit nodded and flicked his tail gratefully at his brother. It was easier to sneak out of camp with several eyes and ears out for danger.

"Let's go, keep down and follow me," Goosekit meowed, and slowly approached the entrance tunnel. Just before he entered, he paused to give a quick look around to make sure no one was watching. You would think after the third time that they would post guards.

Satisfied that there was no one looking, he quickly entered; the other kits just behind him. Slowly, they made their way towards the big rocks that blocked the rest of the forest from their view.

"Ok, do what I do so that we'll get out quicker," Goosekit told the younger kits and then showed them how to maneuver the rocks with as little difficulty as possible. On the last rock however, Goosekit and Snowkit had to help haul Stonekit up the last mouse length.

When the young tom's paws were on the top of the stone, Goosekit checked him over, sniffing at his thick grey pelt, similar to Goosekit's own. Satisfied that the young tom was fine, he gave the same treatment to Silverkit.

"My legs hurt," she complained a little too loudly.

"That means you'll be stronger next time," Goosekit purred, remembering his own experience. He helped relieve some of the pain with soothing licks of his tongue.

"Ok, you ready?" Snowkit asked the younger she cat, who nodded quickly in response. Goosekit took the lead again, pausing to sniff every couple of steps. He loved pretending he was a warrior going out on a mission to raid another clan's camp, especially Shadowclan's.

Suddenly he picked up the warm scent of mouse. Breathing in deeply, he flicked his tail at the other kits, signaling for them to stop.

"What is it," Birchkit asked, tilting his head to the side. Goosekit didn't answer, instead he crouched down and slowly moved forward. His tail up to avoid scraping it against the leaves.

Soon he spotted the mouse, it was nibbling at the roots of an oak tree. Goosekit licked his lips nervously and wriggled his hind courters. Then he shot forward, scraping the mouse's courters as it fled.

But his claws managed to dig into its tail, preventing it from running off. His brother Birchkit pounced on it, and together the two toms killed it.

"That was great!" Birchkit meowed in triumph, "We're going to be the best warriors Thunderclan has ever seen!" Goosekit leaned forward to lick his brother's ear and purred in agreement.

"Great job!" Snowkit praised them, while the other two kits started mewing in excitement. While his littermates and friends chatted about the mouse in excitement, Goosekit glanced down to see blood staining his paw where he'd clawed the mouse. He stared at it and then shook his paw. It didn't come off.

Goosekit leaned down and quickly washed the scarlet blood off, then cleaned his muzzle. He didn't like the feeling of the sticky substance on his pelt.

A loud rustling in the bushes caused all the kits to spin around in surprise as well as fear. Stonekit pressed close to Goosekit's hind courters. An unfamiliar scent washed over them, though it did smell like a cat. Then a fluffy white tom with green eyes stepped out from the bushes.

When he saw them he dropped whatever plant he was carrying and stared at them in obvious shock.

"Go away, you're on Thunderclan territory," Snowkit spat from beside him. Goosekit just stared back at the tom, curious as to who the tom was. He smelled strange with a hint of herb scent on his fur.

"I shouldn't be here? You should be in your camp," the tom said, he narrowed his eyes in anger. "You're all younger than six moons," He nudged Goosekit, and the two younger kits, "Especially you three," he added.

Goosekit bristled, "I'm five moons old!" In all of his excitement about acting like the eldest of the kits, he was still smaller than Snowkit or Birchkit, a fact he resented. The tom didn't look convinced, but instead leaned forward and picked up Silverkit in his jaws by her scruff.

He flicked his tail at Birchkit, "Pick up my bundle and I'll take you five back to your camp," he meowed, his voice muffled by Silverkit's fur.

"No way, I have a mouse," Birchkit said before picking up his and his brother's catch. The tom's whiskers twitched with slight exasperation, but then he flicked his tail at Goosekit, who with a heavy sigh picked up the smelly bundle of herbs. And immideintly spat it back out in disgust.

"That tastes awful," he complained, swiping his tongue around his jaws.

"Just pick it up and help the younger kit," the tom growled. Goosekit snorted and picked it up again, before reluctantly following them tom through the forest. The others trailed around the tom's heels.

Soon enough the familiar entrance to the camp rose into view, and along with it the distressed cries of their clan ho had finally realized they had snuck off.

"I smell Shadowclan!" Pinepaw burst through the entrance tunnel, only to nearly collide with the big white tom.

"Cloudstream," he meowed in surprise, and then he saw the kits, and looked very angry. Cloudstream nodded to the apprentice, and headed into the camp. As Goosekit followed him, his tail still up, Pinepaw leaned down and picked up Stonekit who looked plainly exhausted.

As they entered camp, they were bombarded by what seemed like the entire clan. Even Seedstar and the two medicine cats were with them.

"Thank you for finding them Cloudstream," Seedstar meowed as the tom set Silverkit down, who promptly ran over to her mother along with her brother.

"Your welcome," he said dipping his head in respect.

"I asked Cloudstream to come to our camp on the night after the gathering so we may swap herbs to better our supply," Flameheart explained.

"Of coarse, go ahead," Seedstar said, motioning towards the medicine cat den with his tail. Cloudstream nodded and picked up the bundle that Goosekit had set down after having arrived back in camp.

Now that the medicine cat issue was solved, Lilystream stepped forward and cuffed all three of her kits over the ears and began to furiously scold them.

"Do you three think that the warriors have nothing better to do than go looking for you!" she snarled angrily, "because we can always have your apprentice ceremony delayed if that's what it takes to keep you in camp when you're supposed to stay in camp!"

Goosekit was horrified by the idea of having his apprentice ceremony delayed, and knew that his siblings felt the same so he spoke up, "It was my idea Seedstar. I'm sorry".

The big tom glared down at Goosekit who had to swallow back the lump that was forming in his throat.

Finally Seedstar flicked his tail at Birchkit, "put that mouse on the freshkill pile, and then you and your sister may go back to the nursery, and I expect you two to stay there". Snowkit and Birchkit looked unhappily at Goosekit before heading towards their den, tails down.

"How is it that you can't seem to stay out of trouble Goosekit?" he asked, Goosekit felt far too guilty to answer. But upon realizing that the tom was expecting one he forced himself to speak up.

"I get bored," he mewed in a small voice.

"Then we'll have to make sure you don't get bored," Seedstar meowed firmly, he flicked his tail at Petaltail, "Go fetch Flameheart for me," Goosekit's stomach dropped, was there a herb that could make him behave? He shuddered, he didn't like that idea.

A moment later all three medicine cats came back out into the clearing. Hailpaw and Cloudstream remained at the edge of the crowd though.

"Yes Seedstar?" Flameheart meowed, coming to stand by the tom. Seedstar looked at her and flicked his tail at Goosekit.

"Goosekit can't seem to stay out of trouble, and as his punishment, he gets to help you and Hailpaw in the medicine den,"

"What?" Goosekit looked up at both cats in absolute shock. Kits were absolutely forbidden to enter the medicine cat den.

"Don't let him out of camp but have him help you with the easier duties of your job," he told her. Then he turned to Goosekit, "I expect you to do as Flameheart and Hailpaw request, understood."

"Bu-but I don't want to be a medicine cat!" Goosekit wailed miserably. If he was a medicine cat how would he ever become Goosestar, leader of Thunderclan?

"You don't have to be," Flameheart said gently, "It's just to keep you busy until you become an apprentice." Goosekit's tail drooped, he didn't want to spend all day in the medicine cat den messing with moss, when he could be playing with his siblings.

"Yes Flameheart," he meowed unhappily.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Go help Hailpaw with the elder's ticks," Flameheart instructed, and flicked her tail towards a leaf coated in something foul smelling. Goosekit walked over to it and screwed his face up in disgust.

"What is it?" he asked as Hailpaw came over to him, amusement obvious on her face.

"It's mouse bile, makes the ticks drop off," she meowed, and picked up one of the leaves and motioned for him to do the same. Goosekit took a deep breath and picked the stinky leaf up before following Hailpaw out of the medicine cat den.

For the last couple of sunrises, while his littermates played, Goosekit helped the two medicine cats out. Most of it was simply throwing out bad herbs and old moss from their nests. But now it seemed they had found a harder task for him to accomplish.

Bloomheart and Thurshtail were waiting for them outside of the elder's den. Both were sunbathing, and clearly enjoying the newleaf sun. When they approached, the two cats sat up.

"About time," Thrushtail growled, "These ticks are eating me alive". Hailpaw set her leaf down beside Thrushtail and Goosekit followed suite.

"Ok Goosekit, set your leaf down beside Bloomheart, and when you find a tick on her, dab a little of the mouse bile on it until it comes off, ok?" Hailpaw explained and set to work on Thrushtail.

"Ok," Goosekit picked his leaf back up and set it back down beside the ancient queen. He sat behind her, and began to comb through her fur with his teeth and claws, looking for any ticks. When he found one, he did as Hailpaw had instructed and dabbed some bile onto it, making sure that his claws were sheathed so that he didn't accidently claw the she cat.

For a while they worked in silence until Bloomheart spoke up, "There's one on my ear Goosekit, but I think that's the last one". Hailpaw looked up in sudden surprise. Her paw dripping with bile onto Thrushtail's pelt.

"He's done already?" she seemed incredulous.

"She didn't have that many," Goosekit shrugged and leaned up onto his hindlegs to reach the tick on the she cat's ear. He sat back down and dipped his paw into the bile before reaching back up to dab some more onto the she cat's ear. The tick popped off, and Goosekit had to duck back quickly to avoid it landing on him.

"Ok, now smoothe down her fur to-" Hailpaw stopped talking when she realized that Goosekit had already been doing so when he had been dealing with the ticks. Something she had never remembered to do when she was dealing with the ticks herself.

"What?" Goosekit asked, totally oblivious to what he had done. Hailpaw quickly shook herself.

"Never mind, go bring that bile back to Flameheart and she'll tell you what you can do next," Hailpaw told him, a little jealous of the kit's thoughtfulness.

"Ok," Goosekit sighed, he had been hoping he would be done after the ticks. But he obeyed Hailpaw's order and headed back to the medicine cat den with the leaf in his jaws.

Upon entering the den, he nearly ran into Flameheart who was existing her den. Goosekit twisted away from her to avoid dumping the bile all over himself and the she cat.

"Where's Hailpaw?" Flameheart asked him.

"Still working, Bloomheart didn't have many ticks," he explained. Then as if on cue Hailpaw appeared behind him, startling Goosekit a little.

"We're done," she meowed and set both her bile and Goosekit's off to the side of the den. She scooted Goosekit towards a small pool of water in the den and told him to wash his paws off to avoid having to have a foul taste in his mouth for the rest of the day. Silently the kit obeyed.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the high rock for a clan meeting!" Seedstar yowled, bringing every cat out of their den.

"Can I watch?" he asked Flameheart, who nodded and let him sit down between her and Hailpaw, who began to wash his ears.

"Pinepaw, Larkpaw, Stormpaw, please step forward," he meowed, motioning for the three young cats to join him at the front of the crowd.

They're going to become warriors," Goosekit realized with a jolt of excitement. He couldn't wait until he became a warrior.

"Larkpaw, Stormpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, even at the cost of your life?" Seedstar asked them. Both cats puffed out their chests and held their heads high as they answered.

"I do," they said in unison.

"Then by the powers of Starclan I give you your warrior names, from this moment forward, Stormpaw you will be Stormrise. Larkpaw, you will be known as Larksong. Thunderclan welcomes you as full members," Seedstar purred then he turned to face Pinepaw.

"Pinepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code," Seedstar asked, and then, to Goosekit's shock, the tom disappeared, and in his place was Pinepaw, only he was much bigger and older looking. Two young cats that Goosekit didn't know stood in front of him, their eyes shining with delight.

"Then by the powers of Starclan, from this moment on, you will be known as Pinetrail," Seedstar reappeared, and the vision vanished before Goosekit's eyes. Huh? What just happened? The young cat wondered.

"Stormrise, Larksong, Pinetrail!" the clan cheered.

"Goosekit are you ok? You look like you've seen a fox," Flameheart said gently from beside him. Goosekit looked up at her and nodded.

"I'm fine, I was just thinking, that's all," the young tom meowed. He was still startled by the strange vision, but he bet that it had only occurred as a reaction to having smelt the mouse bile.

"Am I done for the day?" he asked.

"Yes, you can go play now," Flameheart told him with a nod.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Lilystream licked Goosekit's head, and placed her paw gently over Snowkit's tail to keep her from running outside. Today was one of the most important days of their life. Today they were finally going to be apprentices.

"Who do you think your mentor will be Goosekit? I hope mine will be Seedstar or Turtlepelt. That would be neat," Birchkit was chattering away.

"I don't care who it is as long as they're a warrior," Goosekit said, he was still on duty as Flmaeheart and Hailfeather's helper, and he hoped beyond hope that Seedstar wouldn't make him one of their apprentices.

"You won't have to be a medicine cat if you don't want to be Goosekit," Lilystream reassured him, giving his shoulder a final lick before hauling herself to her paws.

"Good, because I'm going to be the best warrior this clan has ever seen!" Goosekit announced. Birchkit tacked him playfully, eyes shining.

"Not if I do it first," he teased, pawing at Goosekit's ear. Behind them, Snowkit pounced on both toms.

"Enough, I just groomed all three of you. You have to look nice for your apprentice ceremony," Lilystream scolded them angrily. Goosekit wiggled away from his siblings and sat down, licking his fur to smooth it down before his mother had a chance to.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the high rock for a clan meeting!" Seedstar yowled outside. Goosekit raced out of the nursery, hot on Snowkit and Birchkit's tails as they ran out ahead of him. Behind them, Lilystream followed them out more slowly. She was purring loudly with pride as she watched her first litter stumble through the crowd.

"Snowkit, Birchkit, Goosekit, come here," Seedstar beckoned them, noticing with obvious amusement in his eyes that they were already at the front of the crowd. All three kits bounded forward with eyes shining in excitement.

"Snowkit, from this moment forward, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Snowpaw," Seedstar began, "Your mentor will be Nettleclaw". The big ginger tom stepped out of the crowd and touched noses with his sister, who was practically bouncing in excitement.

Seedstar turned his head to face Birchkit, "Birchkit, you will be known as Birchpaw, your mentor will be Ivyblaze". Once again, the warrior stepped forward to touch noses with his littermate. Goosekit was almost trembling in excitement. Who will he choose to be my mentor? He wondered silently, eyes wide.

"Goosekit," Seedstar finally turned to the young tom, "you will be known as Goosepaw, your mentor will be Pinetrail". The young warrior tom stepped out of the crowd, purring nearly as loud as Goosepaw who rushed forward and touched noses with his new mentor.

"Now, you're allowed to be out of camp," Pinetrail purred teasingly. Clearly the older tom hadn't forgotten Goosepaw's trips outside of camp. Goosepaw curled his tail in amusement, but then Seedstar drew the young tom's attention away from his mentor.

"Goosepaw, you will train along with the other apprentices, but you will still help Flameheart and Hailpaw out in the medicine den until I say that you will be released from your duties," Seedstar told him.

"Yes Seedstar," Goosepaw promised.

"Snowpaw! Birchpaw! Goosepaw!" the clan cheered. Goosepaw puffed out his chest in pride, feeling warm all over from all the positive attention. He turned his head towards where the two medicine cats were sitting and noticed with great happiness that they were cheering his name the loudest.

Once the cheering had died down, Pinetrail rested his tail on Goosepaw's shoulder, still purring.

"Ready to see the forest for real?" he asked, leading him towards the entrance. Goosepaw nodded enthuisasticly.

Pinetrail led him out of camp and through the forest, several parts of which he reconized. Finally they came to a stop at the very place where Cloudstream had found Goosepaw and the other kits only a moon before.

"Alright, just ahead is the Thunderpath. Don't touch it, lots of cats have been killed crossing it. It's also our border with Shadowclan," Pinetrail's tone was serious as he gazed down at his apprentice, "So no exploring across into Shadowclan territory."

"Yes Pinetrail," Goosepaw meowed. Pinetrail watched him for a moment longer than turned and disappeared through the undergrowth. Flicking his tail in slight excitement, Goosepaw followed his mentor.

As soon as he crossed through the bushes, a powerful stench hit the roof of his mouth as well as his poor nose. Goosepaw coughed, and shook himself. Directly ahead of them was a flat stony surface that went on and on in both directions. It smelled far worse than Goosepaw had thought it would.

"Why does it stink so much," Goosepaw asked, swiping his tongue around his jaws. Before his mentor had a chance to answer, a pure white she cat darted out onto the Thunderpath from their side, though Goosepaw hadn't seen her following them. A huge shiny beast bore down on her, crushing her, and then leaving her broken and bloody body lying in the middle of the path.

Goosepaw gave a shriek of horror, bumping right into Pinetrail, who appeared startled by Goosepaw's reaction.

"What's wrong Goosepaw?" Pinetrail demanded, his green eyes wide with concern. Goosepaw shook himself, staring at the path. The she cat had disappeared without a trace.

"I-I thought I saw something," Goosepaw's eyes widened in shock, was he going crazy?

"Like what?" Pinetrail wrapped his tail comfortingly around the young speckled grey tom. Goosepaw looked up at his mentor, whose green eyes were filled with concern.

"I thought I saw a white cat run out onto the Thunderpath and get hit," he swallowed nervously when he was his mentor frown. Pinetrail sniffed the young tom over.

"Are you feeling alright Goosepaw?" he asked, concern worrying his eyes.

"Yes, but I still saw it!" Goosepaw replied, his fur was beginning to bristle along his spine with fear of what was happening to him. Perhaps what he saw at his mentor's warrior ceremony wasn't because of the mousebile.

Pinetrail stood up, and beckoned with his tail for Goosepaw to follow him, "Let's have Flameheart have a look at you just in case," he meowed.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

When they entered the den, Flameheart seemed surprised to see them. She and her apprentice, Hailpaw had been gathering herbs together that smelled strange. But then again, all of the herbs smelled strange.

"What's wrong?" Flameheart asked, curling her ginger tail around her front paws as she sat down in front of them, green eyes full of concern.

"Goosepaw thought he saw a cat get hit on the Thunderpath," Pinetrail meowed with a glance at the younger tom, "But I didn't see anything. I thought that maybe you could make sure he was ok?"

Flameheart and Hailpaw exchanged a worried glance, and Goosepaw instantly felt irritated. Ok, so he saw something that wasn't there. It was probably just a bad mouse or the bad smell of the Thunderpath.

"Do you feel light headed Goosepaw?" Hailpaw asked, sniffing along his pelt. Goosepaw flicked his tail at her, annoyed.

"No, I feel fine," he said, shrugging, "It was probably just a bad mouse." Flameheart watched him very closely as Hailpaw continued to inspect him for any sign of illness.

"Seems fine to me Flameheart," Hailpaw meowed, sitting down beside Goosepaw. Flameheart nodded and continued sorting the herbs she had out.

"Goosepaw is probably right then about it having been just a bad mouse," she meowed, unconcerned. Goosepaw looked up in shock.

"Are you sure Flameheart?" Pinetrail flicked his ears nervously. The ginger she cat nodded her head,

"Yes, I'm sure Pinetrail," she meowed, then flicked her tail at Goosepaw, "I need to borrow Goosepaw for a little while, is that alright?"

Pinetrail grazed his claws against the dusty floor of the den and nodded, "What for though, surely Hailpaw can help you."

"I'm heading over to Sunningrocks. Tawnyberry has some herbs that I can't find in our territory, and we have some she wants. So were swapping. I need some extra help getting the herbs there though," She looked up at Pinetrail, a question in her eyes, "Is that alright with you?"

"Does Seedstar know?" the young tom asked, "About you meeting the Riverclan medicine cat?" Excitement coursed through Goosepaw. They were going to Riverclan territory!

"Of course," she narrowed her eyes at him, "And I'm not going to mention anything about Seedstar's plan to take back sunningrocks from Riverclan if that's what you're thinking Pinetrail." Goosepaw glanced from his mentor to the medicine cat, kneading the ground in barely contained excitement. Two moons ago, sunning rocks had been stolen from them by Riverclan. Now, apparently their clan was planning on taking it back, perfect! He might even be able to fight in the battle!

"I just don't want my apprentice thinking we're cozy, cozy with the enemy," Pinetrail glanced over at Goosepaw who instantly flattened his ears in anger.

"I don't think we're friends with them," he protested, "They stole our territory! I can't wait till we take it back!" All three cats turned to him, dead serious.

"If you're coming with us Goosepaw, you can't mention anything about the plan to them, understand?" Flameheart meowed sternly, fixing him in her green gaze.

"I understand," he promised, "I won't say anything about it".

"Good," Hailpaw purred, "Come one, you can help me with the comfrey". The silver she cat motioned to a pile of dark green herbs. Goosepaw padded over and sniffed the pile, wrinkling his nose up in disgust.

Pinetrail laughed, "Bet you wish that this wasn't your punishment don't you Goosepaw?" Flameheart and Hailpaw shot him venomious looks, but the dark ginger tom took no notice. He just rolled over onto his side and continued laughing.

"It just smells foul," Goosepaw shrugged, he didn't like it when Flameheart looked mad. Besides, no matter how much he disliked being around the foul smelling herbs, they were very useful when cats were sick or hurt, and that's what counted.

"Why don't you go hunting Pinetrail, while we get going," Flameheart snapped and picked up a medium sized pile of herbs, while Hailpaw picked up another and motioned for Goosepaw to take the comfrey. Goosepaw took a deep breath and picked up the pile, surprised when the taste didn't bother him that much.

As they left the den, Goosepaw dipped his head to his mentor out of respect and followed the two medicine cats across the camp, towards the entrance. Goosepaw felt several pairs of eyes on him as he followed the two she cats out into the forest.

Flameheart walked calmly and confidently, occasionally pausing to look at a plant, before continuing on. Goosepaw didn't mind her stopping every once and a while, he had never been to this part of the forest before. And Pinetrail hadn't taken him here due to their tour being cut short because of Goosepaw's sighting.

Soon enough a smooth rock slope appeared in front of them, and Flameheart warily padded out onto the surface, ears pricked, nose twitching. He didn't know how she could pick up any scent besides the herbs.

"Flameheart! Over here!" a brown tabby she cat called from beside the biggest stream Goosepaw had ever seen. That must be the river, he thought in awe as Flameheart padded towards the Riverclan cat.

Beside the brown she cat was a beautiful ginger and white she cat with stunning amber eyes. She was holding strange looking herbs in her jaws, while she sorted others beside her mentor.

"Hello Tawnyberry," Flameheart purred after having set down her own bundle. She flicked her tail at Hailpaw, "You remember my apprentice Hailpaw?"

"Yes, and you remember mine?" The Riverclan cat asked, tilting her head towards the ginger and white cat.

"Yes, Gingerpaw made quite the impression on me when she ran into my back end the first time she went to the moonstone". To Goosepaw's surprise, both medicine cats laughed as if they were friends. He remembered that soon they would be fighting this cat's clan, so he kept his jaws firmly clamped down on the comfrey.

"Who's this?" Tawnyberry asked, flicking her tail at Goosepaw.

"This is Goosepaw. He was a little too adventerous as a kit and now he has to help Hailpaw and me out as punishment." Flameheart explained.

"You're training to be a warrior?" Gingerpaw asked him, setting down her bundle so she could speak. Goosepaw felt a tingle run through his pelt, her voice sounded lovely, for a Riverclan cat. Unceremoniously Goosepaw set his own bundle down and nodded.

"Pinetrail's my mentor," he told her.

"You mean Pinepaw?" Gingerpaw blinked in surprise.

"He's a warrior now," Goosepaw meowed, "Are you going to the gathering in a couple of sunrises?" While Goosepaw chatted with Gingerpaw, the other three medicine cats started going over what they had brought, not that Goosepaw had any interest in that.

"Medicine cat apprentices always go," she said proudly, sticking out her chest. Goosepaw flicked his tail, swallowing down a pang of jealousy.

"Lucky furball," he muttered.

"Gingerpaw, get the Horsetail, we can swap it for the Coltsfoot," Tawnyberry said, ending the two apprentices' conversation.

"Yes Tawnyberry," Gingerpaw picked up the strange looking herbs and set them down at Goosepaw's feet while Hailpaw took the Coltsfoot and placed it on the Riverclan cat's side.

Goosepaw leaned down and sniffed the Horsetail, "What's this do?" he asked, his curiousity getting the better of him.

"It's sap is used to stop heavy bleeding." Flameheart explained.

"And the leaves can be used to make a poultice when chewed up," Tawnyberry added wisely.

"What kind of poultice?" he asked, eyeing the plant doubtfully.

"It treats infected wounds, like rat bites," Hailpaw explained before picking up the plants and setting them down a little farther back. Goosepaw twitched his ears in obvious surprise.

"Herbs can do more than one thing?" he meowed. Gingerpaw twitched her whiskers in amusement.

"Why do warrior apprentices always think that herbs have only one use Flameheart?" Tawnyberry sighed with a shake of her head.

"They think claws and teeth are the only answer to everything," she purred, amused. Normally Goosepaw would have been annoyed by the insult, but at the moment he was too preoccupied with this new information.

"And coltsfoot and Comfrey, what do they do?" he asked, sniffing the two different plants.

"Comfrey is used to treat broken bones, coltsfoot is used against kittencough," Flameheart told him, facing Tawnyberry as they continued to swap herbs.

"Curious aren't you?" Tawnyberry purred, turning her head to watch him with her pretty blue eyes, "That's a good trait for an apprentice. I don't think I've ever meant a young cat so eager to learn something outside of warrior training". Flameheart nodded in agreement.

"Goosepaw's always been curious," Hailpaw meowed, suppressing a laugh, "He used to sneak out of the camp all of the time". Gingerpaw looked over at Goosepaw in surprise.

"You must be really brave," she murmured in awe, "I was scared I'd get eaten, so I never set paw out of camp until I was apprenticed,"

"Yeah, I guess so," Goosepaw meowed, feeling proud, and somehow glowing warm as if he'd swallowed the sun. Maybe that was just because he'd managed to impress a cat outside of his clan.

"Come along now you two, we've gotten what we needed. Time to head back," Flameheart meowed, picking up the horsetail. She waved her tail at Tawnyberry and Ginger in farewell and started up the slope, towards the forest.

"Bye Hailpaw, bye Goosepaw, maybe I'll see you at the next gathering!" Gingerpaw called to them.

"Bye Gingerpaw, Tawnyberry!" Goosepaw called back before picking up a herb bundle and racing after the medicine cats.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"Did you really get to go to sunningrocks?" Leopardpaw asked, he, and the other apprentices were sitting around the tree stump outside of the apprentice's den, listening to Goosepaw's account of meeting the Riverclan cats.

"Yeah, Flameheart wanted to exchange herbs with Riverclan's medicine cat Tawnyberry and Gingerpaw," Goosepaw meowed between bites of the rabbit they were all sharing. Tigerpaw flicked her tail at him.

"Why did you come with her? Didn't she have Hailpaw with her?" She asked, turning her green gaze onto him.

"They needed my help carrying all the herbs," Goosepaw explained. Beside him, Birchpaw let out of mrph of laughter.

"I wish I could have helped too, all Ivyblaze had me do was clean out old bedding for the elders and search them for ticks, yuck!" He spat.

"Where'd Pinetrail take you Goosepaw?" Snowpaw asked, "Nettleclaw taught me how to stalk a mouse in the training hollow."

"He showed me the border with Shadowclan, the Thunderpath," Goosepaw meowed, recalling the journey. He didn't want to discuss what had ended their training session so early though. He didn't need the other apprentices thinking he was crazy.

"Hey Goosepaw, Snowpaw, Tigerpaw!" It was Pinetrail, he and Nettleclaw were approaching them from a few tail lengths away. "We're going to take you three out for some battle training," Pinetrail explained.

"Birchpaw, Ivyblaze wants you, Leopardpaw and Lionpaw to come with her and Turtlepelt to go hunting," Nettleclaw added, flicking his tail at the other apprentices. Birchpaw licked Goosepaw's ear before heading towards the entrance where Ivyblaze was waiting. The older two apprentices followed him.

"Come on, we want to get some more training in before sundown," Nettleclaw hissed impatiently.

"Where's my mentor?" Tigerpaw asked, following them.

"Blackshade's on patrol," Pinetrail meowed, "He asked us to take you with us while he was out". After that they fell silent until they reached the training hollow where Nettleclaw had Tigerpaw demonstrate with Pinetrail how to do a simple battle move.

"See, it's easy Snowpaw," Tigerpaw meowed. His sister pawed playfully at her friend's ear and went ahead of Goosepaw to try the move. After two tries, Snowpaw had the maneuver mastered. By the time it was his turn, Goosepaw's claws were sheathing and unsheathing in barely contained excitement. Now was his chance to show them what a great warrior he would be!

"Goosepaw your turn," Pinetrail meowed and beckoned him forward with a twitch of his tail. Goosepaw darted forward and watched his mentor closely.

"Alright, raise up onto your hind-legs, and then when I lash out at you, twist yourself around, and slash at my exposed spot below my foreleg," Pinetrail instructed. Goosepaw nodded and raised himself up onto his hindlegs, but when Pinetrail struck out at him, instead of doing the move, he fell over onto his side.

"Try again," Pinetrail meowed encouragingly. Goosepaw nodded and raised onto his hindlegs again, this time more prepared but once again he fell onto his side, slamming his head against Pinetrail's hind paw.

The rest of the training session didn't go much better, while Snowpaw and Tigerpaw worked on more complicated moves, Goosepaw and Pinetrail worked on the same move. By the time they were heading back to camp, Goosepaw had never felt more miserable in his life.

"It's ok Goosepaw," Snowpaw assured him, giving his ear a gentle lick, "You'll do better tomorrow. Besides you did more stuff than we did today".

On his other side, Tigerpaw snorted, "Sure he will. When hedgehogs fly".

"I guess hedgehogs will be invading the skies pretty soon then; because I'm going to be the best warrior this clan has ever seen!" Goosepaw declared determinedly.

"And I'll become a medicine cat when that happens," Tigerpaw sneered.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

For the next moon, Goosepaw continued his warrior training, and as he had hoped, he did get better at fighting. Though all of the other apprentices were still much better at it than him. Luckily he was at least the best hunter out of the apprentices.

That morning after Goosepaw had gone hunting with his mentor, he headed back towards the medicine den to see if they needed him for anything. Goosepaw swore that Seedstar had forgotten to relieve him of his punishment. He honestly didn't mind though. Actually he had started enjoying spending time with the two she cats.

When he entered the den, Flameheart and Hailstream—Hailstream had just become a full medicine cat a few sunrises ago—were both sorting through herbs.

"Need anything?" he asked, stretching as he came in. Flameheart nodded, her age showing through her gray muzzle.

"Go take a few poppy seeds to Bloomheart. She was complaining about not being able to fall asleep last night" Hailstream meowed, without even bothering to look up at her mentor who was already busy.

"Ok," Goosepaw meowed and padded over to where the store was, and stuck his head in to grab a leafful of the tiny black seeds.

"They're the tiny black on-" Hailstream had turned to tell him which ones were Poppy, but it seemed that Goosepaw had beat her to it.

"I remember from when Silverpaw caught whitecough," he replied with a shrug. He picked up the leaf and headed out of the den, leaving a stunned medicine cat behind him.

Bloomheart was sitting outside the elders den, sunning herself beside Thrushtalon. Both cats looked up as he approached, and then sat up.

"Good morning Goosepaw," Bloomheart purred. Whenever the elders needed ticks to be removed, Hailstream and Flameheart had him do the job, so by now they were fairly friendly towards him.

"Good morning Bloomheart," Goosepaw replied after setting his bundle down. Thrushtalon flicked his tail at him,

"Going to be a medicine cat are you?" he teased, amusement brightening his gaze.

"No, I'm going to be a warrior," Goosepaw reminded them.

"Could've fooled me," the old tom muttered. Goosepaw's tail drooped and he was about to snap back at the tom when Bloomheart spoke up.

"Pay him no mind, you'll be a wonderful warrior," Bloomheart told him, her eyes gentle as they always were.

"Here, Hailstream told me to give these to you. They'll help you sleep," Goosepaw said, pushing the leaf towards Bloomheart.

"Thank you Goosepaw," Bloomheart meowed and licked up the tiny seeds. Behind them, Seedstar leapt onto the highrock and called out to his clan.

Goosepaw turned around and headed over to where the other apprentices were, sitting down between Stonepaw and Birchpaw.

"As you all know, our last attempt to take back Sunningrocks failed. So today we are going to try again. But first-" Seedstar turned his head to face the apprentices, "Goosepaw, you've been punished enough. I need all my apprentices focused fully on their training now so that they may keep up and become warriors when the time comes."

Goosepaw didn't feel relieved like he had thought he would. Actually a small part of him longed to let the punishment go on longer just so he could keep hanging out with the medicine cats. But he knew Seedstar was right. He had to focus on his training if he wanted to become a warrior when his siblings did.

"Thank you Seedstar," Goosepaw meowed, dipping his head to his leader out of respect. The tom nodded and turned his attention back to the entire clan.

"Turtlepelt, you will lead the attack, Jaz Queen, Lilystream, Raventail, Toadheart, Mumblefoot, Larksong, and Pinetrail will go with you," Seedstar meowed, then he turned his gaze onto the apprentices, "take all of the apprentices with you except for Silverpaw and Stonepaw, they haven't had enough training for this battle".

Goosepaw shivered in excitement. His first battle!


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

As Turtlepelt led the way out of the camp with the battle party, Goosepaw pushed his way through the cats to walk alongside his mentor, while Birchpaw walked beside him.

"I can't believe it Goosepaw! Our first battle! I can't wait to shred some Riverclan pelts," Birchpaw chattered excitedly beside him.

"I know; I can't wait!" Goosepaw purred.

"Quiet down both of you, we don't want Riverclan to know what were up to," Jaz Queen hissed angrily from behind them.

"Yes Jaz Queen," Goosepaw muttered, and kept his head down the rest of the journey to Sunningrocks.

When the first wave of Riverclan stench reached his nose, Goosepaw looked up to see Turtlepelt had stopped just at the edge of the rocks. Her fur bristling and ears back in silent anger.

"There's about seven Riverclan warriors just lying around on SunningRocks," Turtlepelt meowed softly to her warriors, "How about we go and say hello". Goosepaw crouched down, and unsheathed his claws as his mentor had taught him.

Around him, the other cats were preparing themselves silently for the attack. Turtlepelt flicked her tail up and then with a loud caterwaul, raced out of the undergrowth. Goosepaw swiftly followed his clanmates out onto Sunningrocks, already coated with screeching, battling cats.

Almost as soon as his paws touched the stone, he was knocked sideways by a large tabby tom, amber eyes gleaming in hatred.

Goosepaw hissed and rose up onto his hindlegs, before lashing out with his claws at the tom's muzzle. The tom reared back, narrowly missing Goosepaw's claws, and knocked the young tom off balance, before jumping onto him, pinning Goosepaw on his back to the ground.

The Riverclan warrior snarled and viciously battered at Goosepaw's belly, drawing blood easily. Goosepaw slashed at the tom's muzzle, and chest. But despite his best attempts he couldn't throw the tom off.

Alarm shot through him, he was going to be killed if he couldn't throw the tom off in the next few moments.

"Pull your hindlegs forward," a female voice hissed in his ear. Goosepaw twisted his head to see who was talking to him that the tom was obviously ignoring. There was no one there! Now, he wasn't just seeing things, but hearing them as well.

"You won't see me," the voice hissed again in his ear, "Pull your hind legs forward and push with your front paws against his chest, and then twist and roll to the side," the voice instructed. He did as the voice told him to, and to his surprise and relief, he threw the tom off him, and managed to regain his paws before the tom swung back around, lashing at him, claws fully extended.

"Dart to the side, and strike him with your claws as if passes by," the voice ordered. Goosepaw obeyed and purred a little when his claws drew blood on the tom's flank.

"Excellent, now spin around and bit his hind courters, right in front of his tail!" the voice yowled in his ear. Excited by his progress, Goosepaw dove behind the tom and bit the spot in front of his tail, causing the tom to flee from him. Without being told so, he swiped at the tom's hind courters as he fled.

With a yowl of triumph, he flung himself back into the battle, lashing and biting at any Riverclan cat that got into his way.

"Help!" a strangled yowl caught his attention, and he abandoned his fight with a Riverclan apprentice, younger than him who seemed relieved that he had been distracted.

He bolted through the crowd of battling cats and came to a stop at the edge of the river. Tigerpaw was in the river! A huge warrior queen held her head below the surface, green eyes gleaming with hatred.

Goosepaw, without thinking it through first, flung himself at the queen, landing on her back, digging his claws in. With a furious yowl, the queen flung him off, and turned to face him, allowing Tigerpaw to come to the surface to breathe with a loud gasp.

The queen slashed at Goosepaw's muzzle, and bit his shoulder, throwing him off balance, before she battered at his flank with her hind paws. He struggled to keep his head above water, though water still filled his mouth.

"Bite her leg," the voice mewed in his ear. Gratefully, Goosepaw obeyed, and ducked his head underwater, only biting down when he felt the queen's leg fur brush his whiskers. The paw jerked up and suddenly the queen was off of him.

Goosepaw sat up, dazed, and the queen turned back, snarling viciously. But to his relief, Tigerpaw leapt onto the queen's back and bit down on her shoulder. The she cat reared and was about to throw Tigerpaw off, when Goosepaw slashed at her exposed belly with both of his front paws.

Tigerpaw dropped off the she cat's back, and together they drove her away from Sunningrocks, farther into the river.

"Riverclan retreat!" Blacktail, the Riverclan deputy finally yowled, just as the Riverclan queen fled from the two apprentices, back into her own territory.

As the Riverclan cats fled from Sunningrocks, Tigerpaw turned back to Goosepaw, her tawny eyes soft with gratitude, "Thanks Goosepaw, you saved my life" she meowed, nudging his shoulder with her muzzle.

"Your welcome Tigerpaw," he meowed back, blinking warmly at her. Despite all their fights in the past, he couldn't help but bask in the moment with the older apprentice; after all it was a pretty special moment for them both.

Goosepaw purred at the thought. Thunderclan had just taken back Sunningrocks.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

That night, Goosepaw dreamed that he was in a dark forest with blue glowing mushrooms and fungus.

For a while, he wondered around, trying to find any sign of prey, or at least a sign of something other than the forest. But no matter how far he traveled, it still looked all the same.

The young tom twitched his whiskers in annoyance and kept walking; this was getting ridiculous, he thought, there had to be more in his dream than just a forest!

Eventually he just sat down and tilted his head back to look at the sky, but the tops of the trees blocked out any sign of stars or any patch of sky at all.

"Are you lost? Little one," a voice meowed warmly from behind him. Goosepaw spun around, it was the same voice as the one who had helped him in battle!

The voice belonged to a pretty torteieshell and white she cat, with ginger splotches all over her. She had long fur, and green eyes with thorn sharp claws unsheathed, digging into the soft ground, underpaw.

"Are you a Starclan Cat?" Goosepaw asked in awe. His pale blue eyes were wide open, while his whiskers, along with the rest of him, quivered in excitement.

"I am," she purred, "My name is Mapleshade".

"Hello Mapleshade, I'm Goosepaw," he meowed, while the she cat approached him before sitting down right in front of him.

"I know little one. I also know of your slight problem," Mapleshade leaned forward and gave his forehead a small, but gentle lick. "I know how your clanmates tease you for not being quite as strong as them. I can help you change that".

"Really?" Goosepaw sat down as well, ears pricked, he was ready to listen. After all, if a Starclan cat thought this was important enough to show themselves to him, then it had to be very important. After all, he wasn't a medicine cat; he didn't receive omens and dreams from Starclan.

"Yes," Mapleshade stood up, and wrapped around him, her tail curling around his front. "I can make sure that you are the greatest warrior Thunderclan has ever seen. I can make sure that you become Goosestar, leader of Thunderclan one day".

She brought her muzzle close to the side of his, forcing him to turn his head so that he could look into her holly-green eyes, though it made their noses bump.

"You must make me a promise though," she meowed, her green eyes staring intimidatingly into his pale blue ones.

"What?" Goosepaw asked her quietly, the strange silence of Starclan made him keep his voice to a mere whisper, Mapleshade had no such problem.

"You must promise me that no matter what happens, your loyalty will never be questioned by me, you must always prove that your loyalty comes to this place first before even Thunderclan. Can you make me that promise?" Mapleshade meowed, drawing him closer with her tail.

"Yes, I promise," Goosepaw breathed, he couldn't believe it! A Starclan cat was going to train him to become Thunderclan's next leader!

"Good," Mapleshade withdrew from him, and walked over to a tree stump, easily jumping onto it before turning around to face him, "Let's get started."


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Higher," Mapleshade ordered. Goosepaw flicked his tail irritable and jumped again, swinging out his hindlegs to catch his enemy in the throat with his hind claws before twisting around mid-air to land on the back of another cat coming to the enemy's aid. He had started working on it a few nights ago and was only now starting to get it down.

For the last two moons, Goosepaw had trained with Pinetrail by day, and Mapleshade by night, greatly improving his fighting techniques and skill. For Mapleshade, his every move had to be prefect otherwise it was useless.

He now outdid every apprentice in Thunderclan, though the three eldest, Lionpaw, Leopardpaw and Tigerpaw had received their warrior names a moon ago, Lionpelt, Leopardsky, and Tigerfury.

Tigerfury, she had started being nicer to him ever since he had saved her life at the battle for Sunningrocks, and now they spent many mornings together, hunting when Pinetrail was on morning patrol.

"Excellent, I think you're ready for something new," Mapleshade meowed, jumping down from her favorite perch on the tree stump. She motioned with her tail for him to follow her, and he silently obeyed.

She led him through the forest towards a river, one that he hadn't seen before. A pure white tom with ocean blue eyes was sitting beside it, his tail twitching impatiently.

Suddenly, Goosepaw's vision swam, and when it righted itself he was back in Thunderclan's camp, only it looked different than the one he was used to.

Instead of being built of forest walls, it was created out of an abandoned two-leg nest, with the highest ledge used as the leader's den. But that wasn't what scared him. What scared him was the dozens upon dozens of cats fighting, all were covered in gruesome wounds, bleeding out and dripping red hot blood onto the dusty ground.

The screeching and screaming of fighting, dying and grieving cats filled his ears, and blocked out everything else. That's when he caught sight of the cats he knew.

Pinetrail was fighting fang and claw against Mapleshade, their screeches filling the air as well. Goosepaw was horror-struck, why would his mentors be fighting?

Just then, Mapleshade buried her teeth in Pinetrail's neck, and the tom slashed at her exposed belly, forcing her to bite down on his shoulder instead.

"Goosepaw!" Mapleshade cuffed Goosepaw angrily over the ear, and suddenly the vision vanished, and with it, returned the gloomy forest home of Starclan.

"Y-yes Mapleshade?" Goosepaw asked, his whole body trembling in fear from the strange vision. The she cat flicked her ears in annoyance and gestured to the white tom now standing beside her with her twitching tail tip.

"This is Snowfur, he's going to be the cat you'll fight today," she announced, and then added with a meaningful look at Snowfur, "I expect both of your claws to be unsheathed".

"But that'll draw blood. It's against the warrior code," Goosepaw meowed in protest.

Mapleshade swung her head around to face him, eyes glowing with anger, "Are you questioning me?" she growled, flexing her own claws.

"No," Goosepaw sighed and readied himself to fight Snowtuft, who had already unsheathed his claws. The toms circled each other than Goosepaw leapt at the snow-white tom.

His claws slashed through thick white fur, and he spun around to snap at the tom's tail, but then all of sudden, a big dark brown tabby tom with stripes like a tiger slashed at Snowtuft's chest, creating a wound that ran down his chest and belly.

Smack, Snowtuft's claws slashed across Goosepaw's back and side.

"Goosepaw quit lolly-gagging and fight!" Mapleshade ordered from where she sat nearby. Snowtuft snorted with laughter and lunged at the young Thunderclan apprentice, jaws biting down only inches away from where Goosepaw's ear was.

The young tom retaliated, balancing on his hindlegs to lash at Snowtuft's face and neck with his thorn-sharp claws.

"Excellent Goosepaw, keep it up!" Mapleshade yowled encouragement. Feeling more confident than before, he bit down on Snowtuft's back, causing the tom to howl in pain and then—

"Goosepaw! Goosepaw! Wake up, you're bleeding!" Birchpaw's anxious meow snapped Goosepaw out of his dream training session with Mapleshade and Snowtuft. He sat up, and to his surprise, he still felt the sting of where Snowtuft's claws and fangs had met in Goosepaw's flesh.

"What happened?' his brother's eyes were wide with concern. Goosepaw glanced at his own flank and was surprised to see the wounds Snowtuft had left. How had his dream fight actually hurt him?

"M-must've rolled over on a thorn," Goosepaw lied, feeling as if a bone were stuck in his throat from lying to his brother.

"Come on, let's get you to the medicine cat den," Birchpaw meowed and helped him to Flameheart and Hailstream's den.

Once inside they quickly woke the medicine cats, who quickly set to work on Goosepaw's wounds.

Flameheart gathered up several cobwebs while Hailstream walked over to Goosepaw, a flower bud in her jaws. She set it down in front of him, "Here, eat this, it'll help with the bleeding". Goosepaw leaned forward from where he was sitting and sniffed it, wrinkling his nose.

"No it won't that's Rosemary blossom, it helps with eye infections, you need Burdock root," Goosepaw meowed, shoving the plant away from him. Hailstream flicked her ears in embaressment, realizing that she had accidently given him the wrong herb.

"S-sorry, must be half-asleep," she mumbled in apology and took the plant back to go get the right herb. Birchpaw, who was sitting beside Goosepaw, looked at his brother in surprise, as did Flameheart who was now putting cobwebs on his wounds.

"How'd you know that Goosepaw?" Birchpaw blurted out before Flameheart could say anything. Goosepaw shrugged in indifference.

"I remembered it from when I used to help out in the medicine cat den," he replied carelessly.

Flameheart narrowed her eyes at Goosepaw then sighed, "I don't know what's gotten into Hailstream lately, she's so distracted all the time, she almost fed Stormrise poppy seeds instead of borage leaves".


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Goosepaw shivered in excitement, tonight was the gathering! He paced in front of the apprentice den, while his sister, Snowpaw and Stonepaw shared a mouse nearby. His brother and Silverpaw were both out training with their mentors, and wouldn't be going to the gathering tonight.

Seedstar jumped down from the high rock and strolled across the camp to the entrance, calling over his shoulder as he did so, "Turtlepelt, Goosepaw, Pinetrail, Stonepaw, Snowpaw, Jaz Queen, Redflight, Flameheart, Tigerfury, Toadheart let's go".

"Hailstream let's go," Flameheart called to her apprentice. Goosepaw flicked his ears, worried. Hailstream was one of his closest friends, and Flameheart had been right when she had said that the young she cat had been acting strangely.

"I'm going to walk with Hailstream," Goosepaw told his den mates before sitting down to wait for the she cat to pass by him. When she did, he stood up and padded after her, Turtlepelt just behind them, bringing up the rear of the patrol.

"Are you ok Hailstream?" Goosepaw asked her, their fur brushing as they walked side by side. The silver she cat looked up at him in surprise, then narrowed her eyes in anger at him.

"Of course," she snapped, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I just thought—," Goosepaw tried to explain.

"I'm a medicine cat, I should know when I'm ok or not!" with that Hailstream stalked off, her tail held stiffly.

Goosepaw unsheathed his claws and then sheathed them again in anger, he had been just trying to help. She didn't need to snap at him like that!

"Don't worry about her Goosepaw, she's just being a mouse-brain," Tigerfury meowed from beside him, Goosepaw nearly jumped out of his fur, he hadn't heard her approach.

He flicked his tail over her back, and she rubbed her muzzle against his shoulder to comfort him before they started walking again, side by side, their fur brushing.

"I hear that your warrior assessment is coming up soon," Tigerfury meowed. They jumped over a lob in their way and continued after their clan-mates.

"I sure hope so, I've been working hard," Goosepaw meowed. Up ahead, fourtrees had come into sight, causing their leader to hesitate for a moment before he plunged into the clearing below, leading the patrol into the clearing.

Already, Amberstar, Leader of Shadowclan, a pretty tortoiseshell she cat was there along with Riverclan's new leader, a huge black tom named Blackstar were on the high rock in the clearing.

Seedstar greeted Windclan's leader, Breezestar, a white she cat briefly before the two joined the other leaders on the high rock.

"Oh, it's Heathershrew, I need to go talk to her, I'll be right back Goosepaw," Tigerfury meowed to him before trotting over to a ginger Windclan cat. Goosepaw nodded and looked around for someone to talk with until the gathering started.

"Hey Goosepaw, over here!" Goosepaw spun around and purred when he saw his oldest, non-Thunderclan friend, Gingerpaw.

He padded over to the stunningly beautiful medicine cat apprentice and sat down beside her. She purred and gave his ear a quick, affectionate lick before laying down, tucking her paws underneath her.

"How have you been doing, Gingerpaw?" Goosepaw asked her, casually washing himself. Gingerpaw purred and swatted at his paw playfully,

"It's Gingerleaf now, I'm a full-fledged medicine cat now," she announced proudly.

"That's great Gingerleaf," he purred, licking her shoulder in congratulations.

"Thanks," she meowed back, eyes warm as a summer breeze, with something strange hidden in their depths.

"Let the gathering begin," Amberstar yowled, her voice more of a rasp than anything. The Shadowclan leader was the eldest of the leaders.

She announced that Shadowclan had two new litters of kits and that prey was running well. Windclan's leader went next, saying that they had five new warriors and named off each.

After Thunderclan went, Riverclan's leader, Blackstar announced that Riverclan had a new medicine cat. When her name was called, and all of the clans cheered for her, Goosepaw made sure to cheer the loudest, to which made Gingerleaf purr in happiness. Then the gathering ending and the clan cats began to go their separate ways.

As Thunderclan began to leave, Goosepaw started to pad towards Tigerfury so that they could walk together on the way back, but Gingerleaf's scent washed over him and he heard her hiss in his ear as Riverclan's patrol brushed past his.

"Meet me at Sunning Rocks tonight," was all she managed before she was whisked away by her clanmates moving behind her.

Meet her? Goosepaw's heart beat faster in anticipation. He shouldn't want to go meet a cat from another clan; that was against the warrior code, but surely just meeting her to talk wouldn't hurt right?

"Lower, then spin and snap your jaws at Snowtuft's tail," Mapleshade ordered. Goosepaw silently obeyed his night-time mentor's command. But once again, he just barely missed Snowtuft's tail as the tom twisted around to avoid the blow.

"Come on Runt, you're not even trying," Snowtuft sneered, before he crouched down and swatted lazily at Goosepaw's muzzle.

"Well, I have somewhere else to be tonight," he snapped.

Mapleshade's ears perked up at this, "Do tell".

"I-I'm meeting a friend," Goosepaw admitted, shuffling his paws in the dirt, hoping Mapleshade would understand.

Snowtuft opened his jaws to speak first, but to Goosepaw's relief, Mapleshade slapped her tail over his mouth, effectively shutting him up.

"Well now, I'd hate to cause you to miss your meeting," Mapleshade purred, her mood suddenly much improved, though her eyes gleamed darkly.

Surely Mapleshade knew what he was about to do would be going against the warrior code, so why was she encouraging him?

"Lie down and close your eyes, when you open them again, you'll be back in your camp, and then you can go meet your friend," Mapleshade told him.

Goosepaw nodded and curled up beside Mapleshade who gave his pelt a soothing lick, helping him to get to sleep better, right before he blacked out, he imagined he saw Mapleshade's pelt stained with blood.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Goosepaw let his paws guide him expertly to Sunningrocks, his mind a whirl of questions. Was this all a trap for Riverclan to get Sunningrocks back? Surely not, after all medicine cats didn't participate in such things.

He slowed and stopped just before his paws touched stone; he was still hidden by the undergrowth, but another step and he wouldn't be. He pricked his ears and scented the air for any enemy warriors. As far as he could tell, there was no other cats out here.

Warily, he stepped out onto the stone and was shocked to see Gingerleaf on the other side of the river, her shot up when he came out of the undergrowth, before she leapt into the river and swam to his side of the river.

Goosepaw padded down the slope and met her half-way, purring almost as loudly as she was. After a hard night's training with Mapleshade and Snowtuft, it was good to see a friend.

"I was so worried you wouldn't come," Gingerleaf admitted, she buried his muzzle into his shoulder fur, letting him give her shoulder a soothing lick in return.

"You're my closest friend outside of my own clan Gingerleaf, of course I would want to come see you," He meowed, stepping back.

"I'm so happy to see you," she replied, sitting down to give her chest a few swift licks. Goosepaw moved over to sit down beside her, his tail curling around her.

For a while they sat in silence, enjoying each other's company then, to Goosepaw's surprise, Gingerleaf jabbed at his shoulder with her paw, claws sheathed so as to not hurt him. She jumped back and purred.

"Can't catch me," she taunted.

Goosepaw purred, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she narrowed her eyes playfully, and Goosepaw crouched down, narrowing his eyes at her in mock seriousness.

"I'm a warrior Gingerleaf," He told her, flexing his muscles, preparing to jump.

"Apprentice warrior," she corrected him.

"Not for long," he meowed, and leapt. His front paws hit her square in the back, knocking her onto her side, her back paws pummeling his side gently. He pawed at her chest, while she playfully and very gently nipped his ear.

Suddenly, Gingerleaf's eyes were narrowed in pure hatred, not playful. Her paws and jaws were covered in blood, Goosepaw's blood, her claws were unsheathed. With a cry of horror, Goosepaw scrambled off her and stared at the strange image of his friend.

"Goosepaw! I didn't hurt you did I?" Gingerleaf's soothing voice brought him back to reality, her eyes full of concern, there wasn't a trace of blood on her, and her claws were sheathed.

"No, no, I-I have to go," Goosepaw meowed quickly, and raced up the slope, calling over his shoulder as he did so, "See you tomorrow night at moon-high". Despite the night's events, he wanted to see her again, after all he had had fun spending time with her outside of a gathering. But right now, there was someone he had to talk to.

After arriving back at camp through the dirt place, Goosepaw hurried swiftly over to the medicine cat den and ducked inside.

Both Hailstream and Flameheart were fast asleep, though Goosepaw did notice that Hailstream was flexing her unsheathed claws in her sleep. Surprised by this, but not worried, Goosepaw padded over to Flameheart and prodded her awake.

"What-what is it Goosepaw?" she meowed with a yawn, still sleepy. What was he supposed to tell her? That while he had been breaking the warrior code by seeing a cat from another clan he had seen her covered in blood? No, he would just tell her something else instead.

"Well," Goosepaw shuffled his paws on the dusty ground, "Lately, well, ever since I was a kit I've been seeing weird things. Like that time Pinetrail took me to see you because I saw a cat get hit on the Thunderpath and he didn't. But that's not the only time it's happened, like one time, I was just walking into camp and I thought Windclan was attacking but then a moment later it was all gone. The camp was fine".

Flameheart flicked her tail back and forth, deep in thought before she answered, "I think you're seeing Omens Goosepaw," she meowed.

"Like, like a medicine cat does," Goosepaw stuttered in disbelief, "But I'm going to be a warrior, not a medicine cat!"

"Maybe," Flameheart meowed, "But I do know that some warriors see omens as well, this might just mean Starclan has taken an interest in you."

"Wait! Does this mean I might become a leader one day?" Goosepaw couldn't help but ask, a twinge of happiness in his gut. After all that was what Mapleshade had been training him for right? She had said that he would become leader one day if he stayed loyal to Starclan over anything else. Maybe this was her way of telling the medicine cats that he was Thunderclan's future leader! He wondered if Flameheart knew that he was receiving special training from a Starclan cat.

"Prehaps," Flameheart said thoughtfully, "But you should get to bed, you'll need sleep tomorrow for training, but if this continues please tell me".

"Yes Flameheart," Goosepaw promised.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Goosepaw sniffed the air, ears twitching, listening and scenting for any prey.

Having scented a mouse, he silently crouched down and moved forward warily, keeping his tail still, to avoid alerting the creature.

The mouse was sitting at the base of a birch tree, nibbling on a seed, completely oblivious to its hunter only a few feet away, hidden in the underbrush.

Today, Goosepaw couldn't afford to miss. He had already caught a squirrel, thrush and black bird, but if he wanted to ensure he became a warrior, he would have to do better still.

He had been crouching among the ferns and just as he had attacked the rabbit, it had transformed before his very eyes, and in its' place had been Gingerleaf, his closest friend outside of the clan, who he was still seeing at night every once in a while. Unable to hurt her, he had been forced to miss, and a moment later the rabbit had reappeared in her place.

"You want to be the best warrior this forest has ever seen?" Mapleshade's voice drifted over him, "Then you can't afford to miss this kill".

Goosepaw shook himself and narrowed his eyes, creeping forward once again. Once he was within pouncing distance of the tiny creature, he unsheathed his claws and sprang.

His teeth sank deep into its neck, before the creature could even cry out. Within a heartbeat it was dead.

"Excellent job," Mapleshade purred from nearby, her green eyes glittering with pride, "I couldn't be any prouder of you if I had given birth to you myself. And tomorrow you'll prove you're worthy of being a warrior".

An overwhelming feeling of pride filled him. Leaving the mouse where it had fallen, he walked over to Mapleshade, and stood in front of her, touching his nose to hers in graditude.

"I would have never gotten this far without you," he murmured.

Mapleshade's eyes glittered and she backed away from him, "Just remember, you've worked far too hard to mess everything up now".

Goosepaw flicked his tail, "I know". He watched her vanish before his eyes. For a moment he stood there, staring at the spot where she had stood, then bowed his head.

"Get over this Goosepaw," he mumbled to himself, "It's never going to happen". He turned and went over to the tree to fetch his mouse.

"Hey Goosepaw!" Goosepaw spun around to see Gingerleaf standing on the other side of the river.

His heart quickening, he ran out onto sunningrocks, calling, "Hey Gingerleaf". His friend flicked her tail at him then leapt into the river, swimming strongly across.

Goosepaw dropped his mouse and picked his way carefully down to the river's edge. When Gingerleaf reached him, he leaned down and dug his teeth into her scruff, helping to pull her up onto the stone beside him.

Purring, they brushed their muzzles against each other's, before Goosepaw meowed warmly, "I'll be a warrior by the time the sun sets tomorrow". He leaned down and gave her head a couple of affectionate licks.

"That's wonderful news Goosepaw," her eyes sparkled and she batted at his swishing tail. "We should meet the day after your warrior ceremony, so that we can talk".

"I would like that," Goosepaw murmured happily. He stood up and retrieved his mouse before running back over to where Gingerleaf was sitting on the edge of the river.

He dropped the mouse at her paws, "Here," he said. She leaned forward and brushed her muzzle against his, before taking a bite of the mouse.

Quietly, they shared the mouse, acting like they had all the time in the world. Goosepaw curled up beside Gingerleaf, resting his head on her back, while she groomed his back.

He closed his eyes, purring contently; Goosepaw had never been happier in his life. He wanted nothing more than to say like this with Gingerleaf for the rest of his life.

I wouldn't mind living in Riverclan, Goosepaw thought drowsily, if it meant being with Gingerleaf. But, he wasn't a mousebrain. He knew that even if they lived in the same clan, it could never happen between them. Gingerleaf was a medicine cat, and medicine cats couldn't have kits or mates.

Suddenly the sticky feeling of blood was clinging to Goosepaw's paws and muzzle. He jerked himself away from Gingerleaf and his eyes widened in horror.

Her green eyes were gleaming in hatred, her claws unsheathed and teeth bared. Her fur coat was ragged and covered in blood. All around her were Goosepaw's clanmates, all lying in pools of blood. Their eyes narrowed in fury and jaws twisted into snarls.

"Goosepaw? What's wrong?" as suddenly as the vision had appeared, it was gone, and in its place stood a very confused Gingerleaf.

"N-nothing," he stammered, then blurted out the first excuse he thought of, "I just remembered I have other catches that I need to take back to camp. I'll see you later".

Swiftly, he turned and fled from Sunningrocks, and raced through the forest until he came across the spot where he had buried his previous catches.

He unburied his prey, and picked it up. Slowly, he went back to camp, barely noticing when he accidently bumped into a hunting patrol made up of his mentor, Tigerfury, Snowpaw and Jaz Queen.

Noticing his odd behavier, Tigerfury had offered to go back to camp with him, their pelts occasionally brushing as they walked side by side. Within minutes they were squeezing through the entrance tunnel.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Starclan was not done haunting his waking moments.

Instead of the usually activities in the camp; there were cats he had never seen before wandering about the camp, with a dark striped tabby tom leading an attack against the camp's occupants.

Then his vision swam, and it all disappeared.

Beside him, Tigerfury gave his ear a comforting lick, and rubber her muzzle against his cheek, "You ok," she asked softly, her tawny eyes full of concern.

"Yeah, I'm ok, just a little dizzy," he lied, rubbing his muzzle against her shoulder, before he padded over to the fresh kill pile to drop off his catch, Tigerfury just behind him.

Then, together they headed over to the stump outside of the apprentices' den and laid down beside it, sharing tongues.

"Hi," Daisykit mewed, drawing Goosepaw's attention away from his friend. The four moon old gingr and golden she kit and her sister, Honeykit were standing nearby.

"Hi," Goosepaw meowed back.

"Can you please tell us that story about how you took back sunningrocks Tigerfury?" Honeykit begged.

Exchanging an amused looked with Goosepaw, Tigerfury nodded, "Sure". After a few minutes of the story, Goosepaw grew bored and decided to go make sure the elders' had clean bedding and didn't need anything.

When he reached the den, Silverpaw was already dabbing mousebile on Bloomheart's pelt. The silver she cat meowed a greeting to him, while the elder yawned.

"You need anything Goosepaw?" Bloomheart asked.

"No, just wanted to hear a story," Goosepaw said, sitting down, shoulders hunched, his head bowed. More than anything he just wanted a distraction.

"Ok, hm, let's see, what's one I haven't told you before," Bloomheart muttered to himself.

Nearby, the patrol Goosepaw had bumped into earlier was coming through the entrance tunnel, his sister, Snowpaw running over to Stonepaw and brushing against him. His heart gave a painful lurch, it reminded him of him and Gingerleaf's hopeless situation.

"Ok, I have one," Bloomheart meowed, reobtaining Goosepaw's attention. "When I was a kit, I was fascinated by the idea of speaking with Starclan, so one day I went and asked our leader to let me become a medicine cat apprentice, and I did".

"But, you were a warrior before you became an elder," Silverpaw pointed out in confusion. Goosepaw silently agreed with her.

"Let me finish young ones," Bloomheart said gently, "I was a medicine cat apprentice for a few moons, but I no longer liked it so I went and asked our leader if I could become a warrior apprentice instead, and he let me".

"Wait, you can switch occupation?" Goosepaw blurted out, his mind racing with a new possibility.

"Yes".


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter Sixteen

Goosepaw nervously waited beside his siblings Snowpaw and Birchpaw while their leader, Seedstar called the familiar summoning.

"Snowpaw, Birchpaw, Goosepaw please step forward," Seedstar purred, beckoning them forward.

While his sibling proudly padded over to their leader, Goosepaw walked over to Seedstar rather nervously.

Every cat, even Honeykit and Daisykit were watching, and every last one of them would witness his choice when the time came.

He, along with his siblings had passed their assessments with flying colors and had been estactic about getting new warriors.

Tigerfury especially had seemed pleased; she had spent the entire afternoon with Goosepaw, telling him she was so happy that he was about to become a warrior, and had promised him that she would tell him something very important after his warrior ceremony.

Mapleshade too was extremely pleased that he was becoming a warrior today. She had told him so in last night's training. The Starclan cat had gone on and on about how he would be the best warrior the warrior clans had ever seen, and how he would be the greatest leader Thunderclan had ever had.

Will they still be happy for me, proud of me when I reveal my choice? Goosepaw wondered. He had spent the entire night and all of today pondering his choice. But now, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. In the end, when he had truly thought about it, his true path had always been clear.

"Snowpaw," Seedstar began, "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code even at the cost of your life?"

"I do,"

"Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you, your warrior name, from this day forward, you will be known as Snowflare."—Seedstar turned to Goosepaw's brother, "Birchpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," Birchpaw replied earnestly, eyes shining in happiness.

"Then, from this moment forward you will be known as Birchstorm," Seedstar purred, resting his head on Birchstorm's, while the young tom gave his leader's shoulder a quick lick.

Finally, Seedstar turned to Goosepaw, who out of the corner of his eye was watching the two medicine cats, Flameheart and Hailstream.

Flameheart was watching him with pride, while Hailstream seemed exhausted and unhappy. The former medicine cat apprentice had been acting so strangely lately. Goosepaw knew something was wrong with her, and soon he would try and find out what it was.

"Goosepaw," Seedstar's voice drew Goosepaw's attention back to Seedstar and the matter at paw, "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code, even at the cost of your life?"

It's now or never, Goosepaw thought before he spoke.

"No, I don't wish to be a warrior".

Seedstar's eyes widened in shock, and the entire clan fell dead silent. With a swift glance around the camp, Goosepaw could see that no body had expected him to say something other than "I do".

"W-what?" Seedstar stammered, staring at him with disbelief.

"I don't want to be a warrior Seedstar," Goosepaw began, "It is my wish to train as a medicine cat".

Finally, after several more tense moments, Seedstar seemed to have come out of his shock, and shook his thick quickly greying pelt.

"Are you sure of this Goosepaw," he inquired softly, while hushed whispers echoed around the clan. Both of his siblings were staring at him in fury, while Tigerfury refused to even look at him, an agonized look in her eyes that Goosepaw didn't understand.

"Yes, I am," Goosepaw meowed firmly, locking eyes with his leader.

"Flameheart, will you take on Goosepaw as your apprentice," Seedstar asked as Flameheart hurried to stand beside her leader.

The old she cat looked at Goosepaw, a look of bewilderment and wonder in her eyes. She glanced at the crowd, at Pinetrail in particular, before she turned back to face Seedstar, nodding, she replied, "I will accept Goosepaw as my apprentice".

"Then by the powers invested in me by Starclan, Goosepaw, you are now a medicine cat; listen and learn well from Flamheart," Seedstar said, before he become overcome by a coughing fit.

Goosepaw was instantly at his side, along with Flameheart, but the old and frail tom shook his head, muttering, "I'm fine".

After the ceremony, several of his clanmates came up and congratulated him on becoming a medicine cat apprentice, while his siblings and Tigerfury stayed away from him.

Then to his relief, Snowflare, his newly became warrior sister raced over to him, and brushed her muzzle against his, understanding lighting his eyes, "I wish you'd have become a warrior with Birchstorm and me, but I understand about that not being your path," she meowed, and gave his ear a quick and affectionate lick, "I know you'll be the best medicine cat ever!"

"Thanks Snowflare, and you'll be a great warrior," he purred, "Maybe even leader one day".

"No, that'll be me, she'll be my deputy," Birchstorm meowed gruffly as he came over to them. He didn't look pleased as he sat down beside Snowflare, but when he spoke he seemed happy enough for Goosepaw, "But Snowflare's right, I know you'll be a good medicine cat, especially since you spent half of training helping Flameheart anyway." Then his brother's gaze darkened, and he added, "But you have no idea what you've just ruined for yourself".

 _Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter._


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter Seventeen.

Goosefeather paused as he listened to his mother's labored breathing.

Nearby, Tigerfury was lying down on the other side of the nursery, her kits, Swiftkit, Mudkit and Thrushkit watching curiously from their mother's side. She had given birth nearly two moons ago, and though no one had stepped forward as the father of the kits, Goosefeather knew who the father was. They were Goosefeather's own.

Soon after he had become a medicine cat's apprentice, he had learned that Tigerfury was in love with him, and soon after the two had begun to meet in secret while Goosefeather had stopped meeting with Gingerleaf who had been furious to learn of his becoming a medicine cat, claiming that she was carrying his kits.

That hadn't been the only change for him to experience; after learning of what he had done, Mapleshade had tried to kill him, and a real Starclan cat had warned him that she and Snowtuft were members of the Dark Forest.

His mother yowled in pain, and a white blob slithered onto the ground beside her, Goosefeather started licking the tiny kit to stimulate its breathing, all the while remembering his sister, Snowflare who had died giving birth to Stonepelt's kits, Flamekit, Sorrelpaw, Badgerkit, Russetkit, and Sunfall, who had been the only one to become a warrior.

Birchstorm, Goosefeather's brother had turned away from the life of a warrior, to be with his mate, a kittypet. Much the same way that Pinestar, who had recently become Thunderclan's leader would one day as Goosefeather had seen in a vision.

Hailstream, his fellow medicine cat had run away with a Shadowclan warrior, while Goosefeather's medicine cat mentor, Flameheart had died only a moon earlier.

It seemed that now Goosefeather had turned away from the life of a warrior, which he now knew would have been filled with bloodshed and the downfall of Thunderclan, he was forced to lose every cat he loved.

A second, blueish gray tabby she cat slid onto the ground beside her brother, who Goosefeather had gently pushed aside after realizing that the little tom had already found his way to Starclan.

"I can't—" his mother panted, her eyes growing dim, "I was too old for this".

Panic flared in the young tom's chest, he gave his mother's cheek a few comforting licks, "Yes you can," he murmured, and then showed her that she still had a daughter that was breathing steadily now.

"What are their names," Tigerfury asked gently, using her tail to keep her and Goosefeather's kits from seeing the horrible scene taking place.

"The white tom is Snowkit, af-after his big sister," his mother rasped, her head dropping down onto the floor of her nest, her eyes beginning to close as Starclan stole her from them, "And my precious daughter is Moonkit".

Suddenly outside the nursery, yowls of battling cats reached them. Goosefeather tucked his dead little brother under his dead mother, before picking up Moonkit by her scruff to give her to Honeypelt, who was watching her only surviving kit, Owlkit.

"Take care of her," he told the young queen who nodded as he hurried out of the nursery.

There were cats everywhere! It seemed Riverclan had decided to take more than Sunningrocks this time, not that he would let that happen.

He attacked the first Riverclan warrior he saw, but then he saw an achingly familiar ginger pelt run into the nursery behind him. Gingerleaf!

Cold fear flooded through him as he remembered her words upon their very last meeting at Sunningrocks,

"I'll make you pay for this Goosepaw! You were supposed to join Riverclan as a warrior, and help raise our kits! Now, now I'm going to make sure you pay for this!"

Goosefeather shook the memory away and raced into the nursery.

Honeypelt was hissing wildly, her pelt bristling with alarm. Owlkit, Moonkit, Swiftkit and Thrushkit were behind her, all scared.

Goosefeather's mate Tigerfury suddenly threw herself at Gingerleaf, who to Goosefeather's horror had killed Mudkit.

No!" Goosefeather yowled, racing to his mate's aid, but it was too late, Gingerleaf's razor sharp claws cut Tigerfury's belly wide open, killing the she cat instantly. A move that Mapleshade had once shown him in the Dark Forest.

His first prophecy had come true. He had seen Gingerleaf with hatred gleaming in her eyes, with her pelt stained with Thunderclan cat blood.

And now, here she was, relishing in the moment.

Goosefeather unsheathed his claws and attacked just as Gingerleaf leapt for Honeypelt.

He had spent moons training with Mapleshade, months training to learn how to kill other cats, which Mapleshade had claimed could save a cat's life some day. He would never admit it, but Mapleshade had been right about that.

His teeth sank deep into the ginger she cat's throat, and for a moment they tussled on the ground, clawing at each other, spending their hatred for one another that had been building for an entire year. Then the Riverclan queen stopped moving, and Goosefeather let go, feeling like he had betrayed all of Starclan though he had saved an innocent cat's life in the process.

Gingerleaf stared up at him, the light in her eyes fading, "This isn't over Goosefeather," she rasped, "The Dark Forest will rise one day, and then, we shall meet again". Then with a rasping cough, she died.

Beside him, Honeypelt thanked him for saving her life as well as the remaining kits.

But he knew the truth, One day he would meet Gingerleaf in battle, along with Snowtuft and Mapleshade. _But_ , he thought, sheathing his claws _, until then, I'll do everything in my power to keep other cats, no matter the clan, out of Mapleshade's claws._

The end.

 _I hope you guys enjoyed this story. Please comment on what you thought, I really enjoy hearing what you guys thought of the story._


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